As a drummer and bandleader, Steve formed his first band, The Rhythm Kings, in hometown, Rockford, IL, while in high school from 1958 – 1961. The town’s first Rock ‘n Roll band became a big hit locally, worked with Brenda Lee and Frankie Ford while playing local teen Sounds Like: Average White Band, Van Morrison's Band
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Throwback Fusion... NEW CD RELEASED. Tucson, AZ became my adopted hometown some 26 years ago and this wonderful desert oasis rekindled my love of music. After a few years here I got hooked as the digital world exploded and I began composing and producing albums, drawing on my past experience as a drummer and bandleader. Thus, my "sound" of Throwback Fusion became what it is today. Enjoy the groove.
Poppa Steve
As a drummer and bandleader, Steve formed his first band, The Rhythm Kings, in hometown, Rockford, IL, while in high school from 1958 - 1961. The town's first Rock 'n Roll band became a big hit locally, worked with Brenda Lee and Frankie Ford while playing local teen gigs and recorded a demo at Sun Records at the invitation of Sam Phillips; the label didn't sign the band. A single, Maj, was produced later on Cuca Records. It went on the regional Top Ten and scored a "bullet" in Billboard Magazine.
From 1965 Steve led his second band, The Daze & Knights, which became a road band for the William Morris Agency, Chicago Office. The band backed up the agency's hit singers and vocal groups plus warmed up audiences for hit rock bands of the time, working with Bobby Goldsboro, The Four Tops, Jimmy Clanton, The Chiffons, The Vogues, Len Barry, Dick & Dee Dee, Brian Highland,
The Crystals, Dee Dee Sharp, The McCoys, Johnny & the Hurricanes, The Outsiders,
The Reflections and many more.
For the next 25 years, Steve owned his own ad agency in Rockford and later San Diego where he wrote and produced hundreds of musical scores. He produced and directed TV spots with such notable celebrities as Eddie Albert, Kevin Costner, Vanna White, Jim Nabors, Mike Farrell (M*A*S*H), James Avery (Fresh Prince) and Hall of Famers Ernie Banks, Dan Fouts, and Kellen Winslow. During this time Steve garnered over 100 awards for creative excellence including three TV Emmys,
one for music composition presented by Stephen Bishop.
Since 2004 Steve has embraced the digital age and composed and produced 82 albums, many pictured above, with 970+ songs. His tunes have been heard on 120+ radio stations and his work (3 songs) is featured in Edoardo Ponti's film, Coming & Going. Poppa Steve draws heavily on his Classic Rock, R&B, Soul, and Country background for his riffs and licks, then wraps it all up in today's Fusion Jazz creating a unique, retro yet very contemporary"sound" that can be definitively called Throwback Fusion which connects with young and old alike, a perfect fit for TV, film and radio.